Elderly woman killed

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Bokaro, April 26: An elderly woman was found dead with her throat slit at her son-in-law’s residence in Bokaro steel city today with police claiming murder.

Raj Kali Devi (65), who came from Bihar to live with her daughter six months ago after a spat with her husband who had married again, was alone at quarter No. 203 in Sector III-C when the assailants struck. Her daughter Kavita Singh had gone to her in-laws’ place in Chapra with her two children while son-in-law Madan Singh, who runs a textile business, was away at work.

The room in which her body was found was ransacked while a pile of burning newspapers near the bed suggested that the attackers had tried to set the woman on fire to make it appear as an accident. But they seemed to have panicked when smoke started billowing out and fled.

The woman was supposed to cook lunch for Madan. When an employee working for Madan came to fetch the food around noon, he saw smoke coming out of the quarter and informed police. A police team broke into the flat to find the lady lying dead on her bed.

“Her throat had been slit with a sharp weapon while her belongings were lying scattered in the room that was filled with smoke coming out from burning newspapers,” said a policeman.

A doctor was called, who declared her dead. Police have questioned Madan.

When contacted, Bokaro SP Jitendra Singh said it was a clear case of murder. “Everything is not clear now. We are probing all angles,” he added.

Sources said that Raj Kali Devi was the first wife of one V.K. Singh hailing from Vaishali in Bihar. The couple had three daughters after which her husband got married again 10 years ago. He had a son from his second wife.

“But there used to be regular quarrels between Raj Kali and V.K. Singh at Vishali. The fights turned uglier in the past few years after which the woman shifted to her daughter’s house in Bokaro,” a source said.